"No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work."--Mother Teresa (attributed)

7/13/09

복날

Tomorrow is 복날 (boknal). It seems to mean that it is start of the dog days of summer. So we'll be eating 삼계탕 (samgye tang, which is chicken broth with ginseng) to celebrate the day before the rest of Korea does so.

Update #1: You must literally rip the chicken apart with chopsticks and a spoon. It helps to wear a bib so it won't get on your clothes.

The food is cooked after you order it or call ahead with reservations.

Update #2: It is pronounced by me as boknal, but when I say it Koreans around me don't understand until I pronounce it as "boknallllllll." This is a common problem with the little Korean that I can say. I'll say it, Koreans will say I speak Korean well, then ask each other in Korean, "What did he say?"

Update #3: James explains that I am probably pronouncing boknal incorrectly. Instead, it is probably better to pronounce it "bong nahl." I have the feeling I still won't be understood unless I say "bong nahlllll."

1 comment:

James here. Here's a hint. Bok-nal is actually pronounced "bong-nahl." If Koreans pronounce it slowly (or spell it out) for you, they pronounce it as bok-nal, but if you turn around and say it that way to another Korean, they'll have no idea what you're talking about. Because neither Korean is aware of the phonetic (batchim last consonaut -k turns into -ng when before n- sound) rules at work. Have an awesome time in Seoul!